Daily Archives: November 17, 2019

Two astronauts ventured outside the International Space Station Friday for the first of four spacewalks to repair a $2 billion cosmic ray detector, breezing through difficult work to prep the device for invasive surgery to splice in new coolant pumps and extend the instrument's life probing the composition of the universe.

"We're going to perform what could be considered open heart surgery on this amazing experiment," said Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano, the current space station commander.

The 7.5-ton patient in this case is the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, or AMS, the most expensive science instrument aboard the space station and one that was not designed to be serviced in orbit. As such, the "operation" is considered one of the most challenging since work to repair and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope.

"It's definitely towards the top of the list, if not on the top," said Tara Jochim, the AMS repair manager at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Floating in the station's Quest airlock, Parmitano and NASA astronaut Drew Morgan switched their spacesuits to battery power at 6:39 a.m. EST to officially kick off the year's ninth spacewalk.

The last time Parmitano walked in space in July 2013 his suit malfunctioned, flooding his helmet with water and forcing an emergency return to the station's airlock. NASA developed procedures to prevent a recurrence and no similar problems have occurred since then.

The major objectives of Friday's spacewalk were to prep the AMS for its planned surgery, setting out tools and equipment before removing a protective debris shield, giving them access to the instrument's thermal control system.

After carefully tossing the debris shield overboard, the spacewalkers attached two handrails to help them move about the device and, reaching into the AMS, snipped a half dozen zip ties and cut a cord to fold back insulation blankets.

The work went much faster than expected and the astronauts were able to work through several items originally planned for their second spacewalk next Friday. That's when the actual repair work will begin. The third and fourth spacewalks will be officially scheduled after managers assess the results of the first two outings.

Parmitano and Morgan returned to the airlock, closed the hatch and began repressurizing at 1:18 p.m. to wrap up a six-hour 39-minute spacewalk, the 222nd since the station assembly began in 1998, the ninth so far this year, the third for Parmitano and the fourth for Morgan.

"I've got to tell you, you made the ground team awfully happy and proud of you guys today, just some excellent, excellent work," Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen radioed from mission control. "We are very, very pleased with where we stand moving forward, getting the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer back up and running. So congratulations to all of you."

It took engineers and astronauts four years to come up with a workable repair plan, developing some two-dozen custom tools and testing procedures during multiple underwater training runs. Parmitano and Morgan completed seven full-duration training exercises before launching to the station in July.

"We had to go off and figure out how to create a work site, we had to build new handrails to install on existing hardware, we had to deal with existing sharp edges and in a lot of cases, we're creating new sharp edges using tools that have sharp edges on them," said Jochim.

"We did as much as we could to minimize that risk to the crew member and then, of course, to the (repair) of the payload itself," she said. "But they are certainly very challenging and technically difficult EVAs."

Launched in 2011 on the next-to-last space shuttle mission, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, is one of the most expensive science instruments ever launched into space.

It is built around a powerful electromagnet that bends the trajectories of electrically charged cosmic ray particles created in supernova explosions and other extreme-energy events, allowing researchers studying the trajectories to characterize their velocities and energies.

The goal is to learn what happened to the antimatter thought to have been created in the big bang birth of the cosmos, to learn more about the unseen dark matter that permeates space and, possibly, gain insights into the nature of dark energy, the mysterious repulsive force that is speeding up the expansion of the universe.

Designed to operate for just three years, the AMS proved longer lived than expected, detecting more than 145 billion cosmic rays during eight-and-a-half years of operation. But the instrument has been hobbled in recent months by the staggered failures of four small pumps needed to circulate carbon dioxide coolant through its sensitive detectors.

To repair the AMS, Parmitano and Morgan will have to cut through eight small coolant lines and splice in, or "swage," new lines leading to a custom-built replacement pump module launched to the station earlier this month. The pump module will be installed during the third spacewalk.

"We're going to cut tubes, and then fuse them with other tubes (launched) from Earth and install a completely new pump to help the refrigeration work, keeping the magnet cold so the the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer can work," Parmitano said. "This is really the first time any of these actions have been attempted."

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Spacewalk today: Astronauts at International Space Station take on one of the most complex spacewalks ever - CBS News

The report blames commercial crew delays from Boeing and SpaceX, neither of whom are likely to be certified for regular flights to the ISS by the summer.SpaceX will have a certification review in January while Boeing will have to wait until the following month. The report concludes final vehicle certification for both contractors will likely be delayed at least until summer 2020 based on the number of ISS and CCP [commercial crew programme] certification requirements that remain to be verified and validated.

Space News report launch abort systems and parachutes are the biggest issues for both companies.

Only in April, a parachute test failure by SpaceX contributed to at least a 3-month delay in SpaceXs crewed test flight.

Boeing saw one of their three parachutes fail to open in a test earlier this month.

In the spring, the ISS crew will half from six to three with just one, Chris Cassidy from NASA.

NASA and non-Russian parters will be less able to work on the US On-Orbit Segment (USOS).

The report explains: Any reduction in the number of crew aboard the USOS would limit astronaut tasks primarily to operations and maintenance, leaving little time for scientific research.

NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine has made a formal request for seats on a Roscosmos spacecraft.

The Russian agency is yet to respond.

READ MORE:'God of Chaos Apophis asteroid may set world back to prehistoric times

The station has two sections, the Russian Orbital Segment operated by Russia and USOS.

The station is expected to operate until at least 2030.

236 people have been on board from 18 countries.

Major Tim Peake is the only Briton to have done so.

Currently on board are Italian commander Luca Parmiitano, Russian flight engineers Aleksandr Skvortsov and Oleg Skripockhka as well as American flight engineers Andrew Morgan, Christina Koch and Jessica Meir.

All the Americans on board are on their first spaceflight.

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NASA terrified it could be shut out from the International Space Station next year - Express.co.uk

He makes no secret of his current views that the space agency is on the wrong track by continuing to put so much of its scarce resources into the Space Launch System rocket and the Orion capsule after so many years of delays and when new and cheaper commercial alternatives are so promising.

People have fallen in love with them but they got old and expensive, and I think they're more worried about keeping some of the aerospace companies in fit shape than the American taxpayer, he complains.

Gibson supports returning astronauts to the moon, but he's also among the vocal group of space insiders who contend that building a lunar Space Station first will just slow things down.

Nor is he convinced that extending NASAs primary role in running the International Space Station makes sense, given all the other competing goals.

Gibson sat down with POLITICO last weekend on the sidelines of Space Vision 2019, hosted by Students for the Exploration and Development of Space at Arizona State University.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

You were among the first astronauts who were scientists and not military pilots.

The test pilots thought they were going to rule the world forever. Congress said, 'Youve got to get some science in the program, and the way to do that is get some who have science backgrounds to go flying in space.'

So, begrudgingly NASA did that, and I think the test pilots in the program said, 'All right, bring them in here. They'll quit, flunk out, or kill themselves. And we won't have to deal with them again.' But when we came in there, they found out we could walk and chew gum at the same time.

Once we got working with each other, we gained respect for each other and it started to come together.

Do you think returning to the moon should be NASAs main exploration goal?

I know we are very limited in our budget, and I want to see things happen quickly. I think the best place is a facility right there on the moon itself.

So, go directly to the surface and not build the lunar Gateway? I just don't see the advantage of it. I listened, and I've studied, and I've tried to see the advantage of that Space Station. But to me it never registers as superior, or even better than doing it the simple way.

Get back to the moon and forget the orbiting Space Station. If that is needed in the future, show that it really is needed.

You've got the ability to produce oxidizer and fuel from the resources on the moon. So, why don't we go there, create those things at some point on the surface either the North or South Pole?

The South Pole, I think, is a little bit better. And if you want to go up to the pole and study the ice and other resources from there, it's a small hop ... to get to any other spot in that hemisphere. And that can be happen very easily.

You've spent a lot of time in space. Are we prepared for the physical rigors of such long duration missions to deep space?

I think there's a real issue. You don't want to living in lunar orbit or Mars orbit for a long period of time. That's why I think it's great to just go to the surface to shield yourself [from the radiation].

Then, if you want to go somewhere, you go out and, obviously, you've got to suffer whatever radiation there is, and youve got to have your spacecraft or your spacesuit to give you some added protection.

You have also expressed concerns about the cost and capability of the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft.

SpaceX could be a lot cheaper than what we're going to do with the SLS and maybe even the Orion, as nice as those programs are.

People have fallen in love with them, but they got old and expensive. ... I think they're more worried about keeping some of the aerospace companies in fit shape than the American taxpayer.

Do you think NASA should extend operations on the ISS beyond 2024?

The question is, What are we getting for it, versus other things that we can do with that money? We can cut back a little bit, let the other nations pick up even more.

I have to ask what we're getting back from it and what else we want to do in space? I think as we get to where we're wanting to go back to the moon and onto Mars the Space Station is probably going to lose some of its support.

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'Get back to the moon and forget the orbiting space station' - Politico

Right now, there are six astronauts aboard the International Space Station, floating 408km above our heads. But soon things could be about to get a lot lonelier up there. Delays in building new spacecraft to get astronauts into space mean that the next trio of astronauts set to join the ISS in April 2020 are facing the possibility of being the space stations lone occupants for six months.

It'll be the first time the ISS has had only three semi-permanent occupants since 2009, when it was expanded so it could comfortably fit six occupants at any one time. But for the last 10 years a crew of six has kept up with the ISS endless list of maintenance tasks and research projects. What will happen when this floating workforce is cut in half?

The next three astronauts to be sent up American Chris Cassidy, and Russians Nikolai Tikhonov and Andrei Babkin will travel in a Soyuz capsule. Since the retirement of the US Space Shuttle in 2011, all journeys to the ISS have taken place in these Russian-made spacecraft, which bring three people at a time. One Soyuz capsule is attached to the ISS, like a lifeboat, at all times, and the crew members who have been there the longest will take this capsule home. Three new astronauts arrive a couple of weeks later so apart from the short periods while crews are changed over, there are usually six astronauts and cosmonauts on the ISS at any one time.

This system has worked worked for nearly a decade, but for 2020, Nasa decided that instead of buying seats on Soyuz, it would rely on contracts with commercial companies SpaceX and Boeing for extra crew launches. But development of the commercial capsules has been delayed, with Boeing having trouble with their parachutes and SpaceXs Crew Dragon capsule exploding during tests.

In 2010 when Nasa prepared to shut down their Space Shuttle program, they gave commercial companies a combined $50m (38m) to design their own transport spacecraft. Its uncertain exactly when the commercial capsules will be ready as they need to pass rigorous safety tests first, so rather than paying for an extra Soyuz, Nasa has decided to prepare the next group of astronauts for what might happen if theyre left alone.

Over the years, ISS expedition experiments have made discoveries which will be vital if humanity wants to explore space further. Previous missions have revealed the effect of microgravity on the human body and the source of cosmic rays. But if the crew need to do general maintenance on the station, with fewer people on board there will be less time for other activities.

A large amount of experiments can be done with commanding from the ground so we're trying to to give preference to those, says Ruediger Seine, space training team leader at ESA's European Astronaut Centre. Space agencies managing experiments will have to pick which of their projects theyd like the astronauts to devote their limited time towards, and press pause on experiments that require more human intervention.

But some experiments might fare between without humans getting in the way. Some experiments actually might benefit from less people because of vibration, says Laura Forzcyk, founder of the consulting firm Astralytical who used to work for the ISS US National Laboratory. Even with three there are still a lot of vibrations. Some experiments just want to be left alone.

The limited crew will also mean more sharing of resources. The ISS itself is split into two sides Russian and American. The Russians usually operate on their side, while astronauts from the United States, Europe, Japan, and Canada operate on the other. However with such a small number of people on board, they need to work more cohesively. With only one American, the two Russians have been trained on how to use the US equipment. For example, each side has its own space suit both with different ways of operating but the astronauts and cosmonauts need to be trained in how to use both. Its a case of being prepared for all situations.

It's not easy to get from the Russian airlock to the American segment of the International Space Station. The additional training for the remaining crew members is to make sure that we're covering all contingencies, says Seine.

And while the experiments may appreciate being alone, the people may not. Experiments only take up part of astronaut's time on board the ISS. Like a typical working week on Earth, they have time off, in the evenings and on the weekends. Chris Cassidy, Nikolai Tikhonov and Andrei Babkin may not see another person from spring 2020, to when their mission finishes at the end of the year.

And 2020 could be the last point the ISS gets this quiet for a while. In 2019, Nasa announced that it would let tourists fly to the ISS from 2020 if they were willing to pay the 27,500 for the privilege. This isnt the first time this has happened seven people who arent employed by a space agency have gone to the ISS before. And it wont mean they are dead weight; anyone who gets sent up, professional or not, will be given tasks and help out in any way they can.

But until then, the trio of astronauts will have to endure the mental stress that comes with isolation. Research has found that along with psychological effects caused by adjusting to the novel situation of being in space, astronauts also often struggle with anxiety and depression. ISS astronauts, despite being kept busy with experiments, will still have opportunities to socialise they try to have at least one shared meal a day, and receive plenty of contact from their friends and family.

Michael Lopez-Alegria, who has flown the longest US space station mission to date, went up to the International Space Station in 2006 when the crew was still small. He was there with only two other people at a time, but managed to not feel too lonely during the mission.

I like the small size crew, because we tend to bond more as a unit, he says. Sometimes there can be a divide by culture when there are more people. We had one Russian, me and then the third person was either a German or an American, and so we tended to be more cohesive and spend more time together.

Lopez-Alegria found that looking out at Earth helped him feel closer to home, and in 2010, an observatory module was added to the ISS to create an even bigger window to help with astronauts mental health. I wish I were going back myself, he says.

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Life on the Space Station is about to get really weird and lonely - Wired.co.uk

Typically, this is good advice, but for the astronauts aboard the International Space Station, tasked with baking the first batch of cookies in space, it may be tough to follow. And understandably so. For the last year and a half, husband and wife duo Ian and Jordana Fichtenbaum, founders of Zero G Kitchen, have been developing the first zero-gravity oven that could revolutionize space food and bring a taste of home to astronauts who dearly miss it. Last week, the oven arrived at the space station. No date has yet been announced for it to be tested.

The Fichtenbaums' mission is both simple and highly technical: "We want to build a kitchen in space, one piece at a time, and partner with companies, educators and researchers all along the way," said Ian Fichtenbaum.

Designing an oven capable of baking space cookies is no easy feat. Everyday tasks are more difficult in space, which lacks the force of gravity to keep objects from floating around -- and baking presents its own unique challenges. Traditional convection ovens function by utilizing gravitational properties; "the hot air rises, the cool air falls," explained Abby Dickes, Nanoracks' marketing director.

Then there's the challenge of keeping food secure and stationary while it bakes. To complicate things further, the oven must run on a limited power supply, so as not to blow a fuse on the space station.

But the zero-gravity oven was designed to circumvent these issues. It's composed of a sleek, cylindrical chamber that houses an insertable silicone frame, which surrounds the food to hold it in place. Cylindrical heating coils focus the heat on the food in the center of the chamber and rise to temperature much more slowly than traditional ovens, to accommodate the power constraints.

"The oven went through a few different iterations, but the final creation ended up being very chic, very beautiful, and now it's up on the space station ready to bake some DoubleTree cookies -- and hopefully after that, all kinds of other creations," says Ian Fichtenbaum.

What might those other creations be? "Right now it's best to stick with things that are patty-size and shape -- a roll, a meatball," said Jordana Fichtenbaum.

What about more composed dishes? A tiny casserole, perhaps? "Yeah, maybe a mini casserole," says Ian Fichtenbaum.

But first, cookies. The irony, of course, is that the cookies are not technically meant to be eaten. They are, after all, the product of a science experiment and, what's more, one that's never been conducted before.

"The top priority for everyone who works on the space station is the safety of the crew on board," said Dickes. Some cookies will be reserved for analysis. For the rest, taste-testing will be at the baker's discretion.

For astronauts who choose to eat the cookies, the real question will be whether they taste just as good as those you get at any DoubleTree here on Earth. While the proof will be in the pudding, Dickes has high hopes.

"You have to start with great ingredients, which we know we're doing because we've eaten far too many of these cookies," she said. "I think they're going to look different -- like more of a spherical blob shape, which honestly just sounds gooey and delicious."

But just in case the first batch doesn't turn out to be edible, a tin of pre-baked DoubleTree cookies was sent up to the space station along with the oven.

The shape of the cookie may lend itself perfectly for this experiment, but that's not the only reason it was chosen for the zero-gravity oven's maiden voyage.

"It's a symbol of hospitality and we're trying to make space travel more hospitable for the future," said Dickes. "A cookie represents the perfect symbol of everything we're trying to do in this mission."

Oh yeah, and it's delicious.

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The story behind the first batch of cookies in space and the first zero-gravity oven - CNN

You might want to save your pennies before you book that Walt Disney World vacation you've been longing for, as we've got an out of this world destination with a stellar view eclipsing anything available in sunny Florida.

The Gateway Foundation is ramping up their two-pronged plan to promote space tourism, a zero-gravity construction industry, and scientific research aboard a pair of orbiting superstructures, the Von Braun Rotating Space Station and The Gateway Spaceport. Both endeavors are scheduled to support scientific research and space commerce, but also function as an exotichotel for outgoing tourists.

With all the challenges and conflicts of such a momentous task ahead of them, The Gateway Foundation and partnering space construction company Orbital Assembly plan to build the first space station as early as 2025 as a vital initial step to colonizing space and other heavenly worlds.

This sleek rotating structure was partially-inspired by the visionary ideas of Dr. Wernher von Braun, the pioneering German military rocket scientist who was instrumental in the development of the behemoth Saturn V rocket and NASA's successful Apollo moon landing program.

Designed by Gateway Foundation executive team member and space station lead architect, Timothy Alatorre, the Von Braun Station is hoping to become the largest human-made structure in space and will be fully capable of accommodating up to 450 people.

This gleaming ring of technology will feature amenities ranging from restaurants, viewing lounges, and musical concerts, to bars, libraries, and sports programs, allowing passengers to take full advantage of weightlessness while on board.

"The inspiration behind it really comes from watching science fiction over the last 50 years and seeing how mankind has had this dream of starship culture," Alatorre told Space.com. "I think it started really with Star Trekand then Star Wars, and [with] this concept of large groups of people living in space and having their own commerce, their own industry, and their own culture.

"We expect the operation to begin in 2025, the full station will be built out and completed by 2027," he added. "Once the station's fully operational, our hope, our goal, and our objective is to have the station available for the average person. So, a family or an individual could save up reasonably and be able to have enough money to visit space and have that experience It would be something that would be within reach."

While this might seem like an unrealistic timeframe considering the obstacles, logistics, and inevitable delays involved with an expensive project of this magnitude, Allatore still believes it's totally possible.

What do you think of The Gateway Foundation's lofty goals and would you spring for a ticket into space when reservation lines open for its first guests?

Check out SYFY WIRE's exclusive images in the gallery below and imagine yourself comfortably floating above our Big Blue Marble with cocktail in hand!

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You could be booking an Earth-view room at the Von Braun Space Station by 2025 - SYFY WIRE

Two astronauts are gearing up for what may be the most challenging spacewalks in history.

NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan and Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency will take at least four spacewalks over the next few weeks to repair an ailing dark matter experiment outside the International Space Station. The spacewalk saga begins Friday morning (Nov. 15), when the duo will embark on the first 6.5-hour spacewalk. You can watch the spacewalk live here on Space.com, courtesy of NASA TV.

Called the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), the $2 billion experiment studies cosmic particles in space by using a huge, superconducting magnet to alter the particles' paths with its magnetic field. As the particles pass through this magnetic device, eight tiny particle detectors analyze their properties, looking for evidence of antimatter and dark matter.

Related: How the Antimatter-Hunting Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer Works (Infographic)

NASA launched the AMS to the International Space Station in 2011 on the space shuttle Endeavour, and the experiment was designed to have a lifetime of 10 to 18 years. However, just three years after it became operational, one of its four cooling pumps failed. The four pumps are redundant, with the AMS only using one at a time for periods of 3 to 4 months, so the experiment could continue despite the AMS being down a pump.

However, when a second pump failed just a few months later, "that was when we knew that we had a serious problem to deal with," Ken Bollweg, the AMS program manager, said in the news conference. "We knew we had to do something about it, especially since AMS was getting such compelling science," Bollweg said. "We knew we wanted to extend its life."

But AMS will be getting a lot more than just some new pumps. "It's not only replacing the pumps, it's replacing the accumulator, heat exchangers, heaters, valves that whole pump package will be attached to the outside of AMS," Bollweg said, adding that the spacewalkers will be working to connect new power and data cables as well.

This NASA graphic shows the configuration of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer's thermal control system.

(Image credit: NASA)

"It's a whole new package that's designed to extend the life [of AMS] until the end of the space station," Bollweg said. NASA is planning to end its space station operations in 2024, although Congress recently proposed an extension to 2030.

Not only will the astronauts be repairing the cooling system, but they're also going to upgrade it. "We'll actually improve the cooling significantly," Bollweg added. "As things are in space, with time they degrade [and] the optical properties change, so the cooling isn't quite as efficient. This is actually going to improve it to the point where we're expecting the cooling to be even better than it was when we first started."

Astronauts began preparing the AMS for the repair job in 2017, when NASA astronauts Peggy Whitson and Jack Fischer installed a new data cable during a spacewalk together. This cable would feed data from the AMS cooling system to engineers who were planning the experiment's complicated repair work back on Earth.

NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan (left) and European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano work inside the Quest airlock to check their spacesuits and tools before beginning a series of spacewalks to repair the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.

(Image credit: NASA)

Because the AMS experiment was not designed to be repaired by astronauts in space, Friday's spacewalk will be particularly challenging, and the astronauts will have to take at least four 6.5-hour spacewalks to get the job done. In a news conference Tuesday (Nov. 12), Tara Jochim, NASA's AMS spacewalk repair project manager, said that in terms of difficulty, the AMS spacewalks are "definitely towards the top of the list, if not on the top."

The European Space Agency called these spacewalks the "most challenging since work to repair the Hubble Space Telescope." However, one big difference between the Hubble spacewalks and these AMS spacewalks is that the Hubble Space Telescope was designed to be serviced by astronauts in orbit. When NASA built the AMS, the agency was not planning to have astronauts touch it again once it was in space and the bulky gloves that astronauts wear during spacewalks will surely add to the challenge.

"We're going to go in and actually bypass the cooling system that's on AMS. To do that you've got to cut into these small stainless steel tubes that are on AMS. That presents its own unique challenges," particularly when it comes to keeping the astronauts safe, Jochim said. "To do that you're creating sharp edges, and when you're inside of a large balloon yourself, you don't want to come up against sharp things, so we had to figure out how to safely go off and do that activity."

The upgraded thermal control pump system that the spacewalkers will affix to the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer is pictured just before it was shipped to the International Space Station.

(Image credit: NASA)

While this repair job will be an arduous task for the astronauts, it has also been a tremendous challenge for NASA's ground teams to plan. "We usually have a standard set of EVA [extravehicular activity] tools that we design all of our space equipment to be able to interface with," Jochim said. "Unfortunately not all those would work with this activity, so we designed about 25 new space tools that we flew on a variety of missions this year" to be able to conduct this repair, she added. The most recent batch of AMS equipment just arrived at the space station two weeks ago on a Cygnus cargo spacecraft.

After Friday's spacewalk, NASA is planning to send both Parmitano and Morgan out for a second spacewalk on Nov. 22. The third will take place around Dec. 1-2, and the date for the fourth spacewalk has yet to be determined, Kenny Todd, NASA's space station operations integration manager, said in the news conference. Depending on how smoothly these four spacewalks go, they may have to take additional spacewalks.

Email Hanneke Weitering at hweitering@space.com or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and onFacebook.

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Astronauts Will Take 4 of the Most Challenging Spacewalks Ever to Fix a Dark Matter Experiment - Space.com

Artist Andrew Nybergs work soon will be out of this world. Literally.

Nyberg who is originally from Mankato but now resides in Brainerd was asked to design the official patch for an upcoming mission by NASA and SpaceX to the International Space Station.

Nyberg, a graduate of South Central College, is a professional graphic artist whose work youve probably already seen if youre a fan of Mankatos downtown sculpture tour. But this latest development could launch his career to infinity and beyond.

OK, enough with the jokes. Heres our interview with Andrew.

We asked Nyberg to tell a little bit more about his work and how he was chosen to design that spacey patch.

The Free Press: Tell us how you got tapped to design this patch?

Andrew Nyberg: My uncle, Douglas Hurley, is one of the astronauts assigned to DM2 (Demonstration Mission 2) which will be the first manned mission aboard a U.S.-built craft to the International Space Station since the retirement of the Space Shuttle. He was also the pilot of the very last shuttle mission that retired the program. He is married to my aunt, Karen Nyberg, who is also a NASA astronaut and has had two missions aboard the ISS. Once on Space Shuttle Discovery in 2008 and another six-month mission during Exp. 36 and 37, which flew on the Russian Soyuz.

When Karen was going on her second mission, she commissioned me to create a patch for her mission. The patch was designed and was even printed and ready for their trip. At the last minute the commander for the mission changed. The commander has the final say in the mission patch design and went with one of his own artists. So my design got tabled. However, it wasnt before they had already printed a bunch. So I at least got a few of those created patches and Karen did fly it alongside their official patch on the ISS. There is a version of it aboard the ISS to this day.

When Doug got assigned to fly aboard the Dragon Capsule, he asked me if I would be willing to create their mission patch. Of course I accepted.

FP: Were there several drafts that had to be approved by NASA/Space X or was your original creation the one that was ultimately accepted?

AN: Yes. With most design work, we tend to go through a few different variations before the final design is accepted. They were actually very easy to work with and picked one of four different versions I had given them. From there it was fine-tuned to add all of the finer details required for the mission patch.

FP: Walk us through the design. Theres a lot going on here and it seems like every thing in it symbolizes or references something that might not be apparent to people who dont know the story.

AN: There is quite a lot, indeed. We did have a lot of stuff we needed to include on the patch and I tried my best to be as creative as possible when presenting all of the elements.

Some people may ask where the clover is hidden. SpaceX has a long tradition of including a four-leaf clover in all of their patch designs. The clover tradition began after the successful orbital launch of any privately funded and developed rocket which occurred on Sept. 28, 2008. I remind them that this is a patch for NASAs commercial crew program. SpaceX will most likely have their own mission patch as well.

FP: Do you do a lot of commission work like this?

AN: I sure do! I have had the honor of doing a lot of commissioned work for various people and businesses around the Mankato area, including some of the local colleges and schools in the area.

FP: Does something like this with high visibility give the artist any kind of boost? Will you get more work because of this?

AN: I certainly hope so! Ive already had a few inquiries about some business logos and other projects.

FP: Tell us about your other work. Didnt you have a piece in the Walking Sculpture Tour?

AN: I have done quite a few large projects while working for companies like SPX Sports in Mankato. Walking through MSU or either West or East High School and you can see many of the projects I helped with when I was a part of their team (large wall murals or over-sized banners and graphics). This was also eight years ago so many of those things may have been replaced by now. The wall graphics in the Myers Field House at MSU is one of the largest projects that comes to mind.

I have also done work for Z99 in town. I designed the wrap on their Punisher parade vehicle as well as the large white and black truck you may see at Rockin Ronnys.

Im a graphic designer by trade. But overall I just like to refer to myself as an artist. My grandfather, Ken Nyberg, is pretty well known for his larger-than-life sculptures that dot the roadside in central and northern Minnesota, many of which can be seen at NybergSculptures.com or our Facebook page by the same name.

So, following in my grandfathers footsteps, I started creating some sculptures of my own using scavenged metal objects. I have a wolf titled The Cog of the Wild on display in the Mankato art walk and can be seen on the corner of Main and Second streets. (Editors note: The Cog of the Wild was just named the Peoples Choice winner on this years tour. That means the sculpture remains in the community permanently.)

The largest of my sculptures is on display at the Chahinkapa Zoo in Wahpeton, North Dakota. It is a life-sized moose made similarly to the wolf, with random metal objects welded together over a wire frame.

FP: Is creating art your full-time job or do you have a different 9-5?

AN: I am currently working as a graphic designer for Mills Automotive Group in Brainerd. Graphic design is art.

So, yes, creating art is my full-time job.

Originally posted here:
Mankato native designed patch for upcoming NASA mission to the International Space Station - Mankato Free Press

Eleven days in space can change your perspective.

After a stay at the International Space Station, Yi So-yeon found herself grateful for the Earth.

I realized that I should be grateful for all that I have my friends, siblings, parents, teachers and colleagues as well as the wind, the sky, the stars, the moon, the mountains, the air, she wrote in an email to The Daily Herald.

Yi, 41, is the first and only Korean to fly in space. An astronaut and scientist, she flew to the International Space Station in 2008 for nine days of research. She was in space for a total of 261 hours just three hours shy of 11 days.

The former Everett Community College physics instructor will share her story as South Koreas first and still only astronaut in a To The Moon and Beyond lecture on Nov. 23 at the Stanwood High School Performing Arts Center.

In 2006, Yi was working on a Ph.D. at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology when she was selected by South Koreas space program from 36,000 applicants to train in Russia for a flight to the International Space Station.

On April 8, 2008, Yi blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft with Russian cosmonauts Sergey Volkov and Oleg Kononenko.

Yi said training for the mission itself wasnt hard. The challenge was learning to speak enough Russian in just six months in order to train for the flight.

Over the missions nine days, Yi carried out 18 experiments and medical tests for the Korea Aerospace Research Institute. Most of the tests involved how scientific phenomena changes in space.

She monitored the effects of zero gravity on fruit flies, plant seeds and her own heart, eyes and facial shape. She also observed the movement of dust storms from China to Korea.

During her stay at the International Space Station, Yi never tired of looking at the Earth. Whenever she woke up in the middle of the night, she would climb out of her sleeping bag and float over to her cabins window for another look.

Our beautiful planet, Earth, is the greatest gift from God, she said. I believe that we have an obligation to share it fairly with everyone, to preserve it to the best of our ability, and to hand it over to the next generation in as good a condition as when received.

She nearly died coming back to Earth though she didnt know it at the time.

On the return trip with American astronaut Peggy Whitson and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko in the Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft, the equipment and re-entry modules didnt properly separate before re-entering Earths atmosphere.

The malfunction put the spacecraft on a re-entry trajectory that subjected the crew to nearly 16Gs of force, or 16 times the force of gravity, compared to the normal Soyuz re-entry force of 4.5Gs.

The spacecraft had a rough landing in Kazakhstan, 260 miles from its target. Kazakh nomads were the first to find the wayward capsule.

We didnt know how serious it was, Yi said. We only knew it was not normal, and the computer changed the re-entry mode to ballistic re-entry. However, after getting back, during the investigation teams brief, we got to know it was really dangerous for us.

Yi said she wishes South Koreas $20 million contract with Russia had lasted more than three years. It meant she was and still is the only Korean to fly in space. She hopes to see at least two more Koreans in space within the next decade. (Retired NASA astronaut Mark Polansky, who logged more than 300 hours in space, is Korean-American.)

Its a great honor to be the first and only astronaut of South Korea, but at the same time Im kind of alone, she said. I have a huge responsibility, and much more eyes watching me is sometimes hard to handle.

She said she is fortunate to be an astronaut not because she beat out 35,999 applicants but because of the era in which we live.

Yi, who grew up in Gwangju, South Korea, earned her bachelors and masters degrees in mechanical engineering, followed by a Ph.D. in biological science from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in Taejon. She also earned an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley.

She left the South Korean space program in 2014, then taught physics at Everett Community College in 2016. Now a Puyallup resident, Yi works with South Korean-based Studio XID and California-based Loft Orbital Solutions.

Yi, who also lectures at the University of Washington, said she is focused on nurturing the next generation of STEM (science, techology, engineering and mathematics) leaders.

The next generation is really important, she said. They are the future.

Sara Bruestle: 425-339-3046; sbruestle@heraldnet.com; @sarabruestle.

Next generation

Meet the next generation of STEM leaders in Stanwood.

Cole Welch, a Running Start student at Everett Community College, will be demonstrating LEGO robotics before Yi So-yeons talk.

A LEGO robotics instructor for the Community Resource Center of Stanwood-Camano, Welch, 18, teaches children how to build and program Mindstorms EV3 robots.

Were building the robots to help (the kids) learn, he said. We build different ones each month.

The high school senior likes to do math in his spare time. He competes in local Knowledge and Science bowls through Stanwood High School.

I love to see how seemingly abstract math concepts can be applied very practically, he said.

Welch is interested in majoring in physics and math at one of the eight colleges for which hes applied. He knows he wants to go into research, but hasnt figured out what hell research just yet.

He thinks its cool that Yi taught physics at his community college. Im really interested in what she has to say, Welch said. If he were only a few years older, he might have been able to take her class.

Ramona Reed, a sixth-grader at Stanwood Middle School, is serving as an assistant to event coordinator Christine Russell. She said Yi is her idol and that she cant wait to meet the astronaut.

The 11-year-old said science and math are by far her favorite subjects. She asks for extra assignments from her STEM teachers. Her science fair research topics have included black holes and how best to calm a stressed horse. One of her hobbies is coding (another is riding horses).

When she grows up, Ramona expects to take over the family business Interface Technologies Northwest in Lynnwood but not before she gets her Ph.D. in physics.

Her advice for future STEM leaders? Make sure youre passionate.

If you want to do science, you have to be able to put the work into it or put your mind to it, she said. If you dont actually like it, theres no point in doing it.

She likened finding yourself in a STEM career that doesnt make you happy to getting sucked into a black hole: Youre stuck in that black hole, and youre not going to be able to get out.

If you go

South Koreas first and still only astronaut, Yi So-yeon will talk on To The Moon and Beyond from 4 to 6 p.m. Nov. 23 at the Stanwood High School Performing Arts Center, 7400 272nd St. NW, Stanwood. Pre-lecture STEM activities and live music are scheduled for 3 p.m.

Yis Stanwood visit is sponsored by the Community Resource Center of Stanwood-Camano, Sno-Isle Libraries and the city of Stanwood.

Although the event is free, tickets are required. All tickets are spoken for. Call 360-629-5257, ext. 1002, to be put on a waiting list for returned tickets. Seating is first come, first served.

Gallery

Artist Val Paul Taylor, owner of the Guilded Gallery in Stanwood, painted this portrait of South Korean astronaut Yi So-yeon in honor of her visit to Stanwood.

Originally posted here:
Korea's first and only astronaut shares her story in Stanwood - The Daily Herald

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. A dozen bottles of fine French wine arrived at the space station Monday, not for the astronauts, but for science.

The red Bordeaux wine will age for a year up there before returning to Earth. Researchers will study how weightlessness and space radiation affect the aging process. The goal is to develop new flavors and properties for the food industry.

The bottles flew up aboard a Northrop Grumman capsule that launched from Virginia on Saturday and arrived at the International Space Station on Monday. Each bottle was packed in a metal canister to prevent breakage.

Universities in Bordeaux, France, and Bavaria, Germany, are taking part in the experiment from Space Cargo Unlimited, a Luxembourg startup.

Winemaking uses both yeast and bacteria, and involves chemical processes, making wine ideal for space study, said University of Erlangen-Nuremberg's Michael Lebert, the experiment's scientific director, in a company video.

The space-aged wine will be compared to Bordeaux wine aged on Earth. What's left will go to those who helped pay for the research, according to a company spokeswoman.

This is the first of six space missions planned by the company over the next three years touching on the future of agriculture given our changing world.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime adventure," Nicolas Gaume, chief executive and co-founder of Space Cargo Unlimited, said in a statement.

NASA is opening the space station to more business opportunities like this and, eventually, even private astronaut missions.

The Cygnus capsule that pulled up to the space station on Monday contains multiple commercial ventures. Also on board: an oven for baking chocolate chip cookies, as well as samples of carbon fiber used by Italy's Lamborghini in its sports cars.

Budweiser has already sent barley seeds to the station, with an eye to becoming the beverage of choice on Mars. In 2015, a Japanese company known for its whiskey and other alcoholic drinks sent up samples. Scotch also made a visit to space in another experiment.

As for high-flying wine cellars, this isn't the first. A French astronaut took along a bottle of wine aboard shuttle Discovery in 1985. The bottle remained corked in orbit.

The space station's current crew includes three Americans, two Russians and an Italian, who might have preferred a good Chianti on board.

See the original post here:
Wine cellar in space: 12 bottles arrive for year of aging - Tuscaloosa News